Gas intake lock for automobiles



March 10, 1925. 1,529,002

I G. ALLIN GAS INTAKE LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Feb. 5, 1924 George A1 in Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

UNITED 1 starts BAT'ENT 0E GEQRGE su 01. SEATTLE. WASHING ON oas rnrn m oon non AUIQIVJQOBILES.

Application filed February 5, 1,924. Seniak No. 690,694.

vented certain. new and usefultmprovements,

in Gas Intake. Looks for Automobiles, of which the following is. a specification.

My inventionrelates to a device which is.

intended as a means for preventing unauu omob le It: cemnri s' ne n whi reinser ion n. t el in s. r; xampl betw n h rb re e and in ake eae to d, and including a valve means. of which the: supply of fuel to the enginemay be cut ii at will, and m y nvtbe. tur ed, 011 xc p by one authorizedto do so.

The particular the provision of such a device as scribed abovein which the control valve may be positivel and immovably locked in either open or c'osed position.

A further objectlies in the provision of such a device including a butterfly valve rotatable through a small angle, as 9.0 degrees, between its full open and full closed positions and of a lock connected thereto,

the lock being rotatable through a greater angle, as- 360. degrees, between positions which will permit extraction of the key, and

the connection between the lock and valve being such that the valve is operated by the lock and positively held in both extreme positions. i

My invention comprises these novel parts and combinations thereof which are shown in the accompanying drawings, described in the specification and particularly defined by the claims terminating the same.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention inthe form which is now preferred by me.

Figure l is a plan view of an embodiment of my invention. I J

Figure 21s a section, on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figures 3 and t are sections on line 3-3 of. Figure 1, illustrating, respectively, the full open andfull closed positions or the control valve.

Figure 5 is. an enlarged section on line 5-5 of Figure 2. p v

Figure 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Figure 5.

dapted t r object of my invention is that de-- If a valve be inserted in the gas line of.

an internal combustion or gas engine between the carburetor and intake manifold, for, example, the engine will not operate so. longas this; valve is,v closed, for it is, obvious that no fuel may reach the engine cylinders. I have, therefore, designed my device to, be inserted in the intake manifold, preferably its. end adjacent the, carburetor- 1 provide a casing 2, having a central aperture 20. which is intended. to. register with the outlet opening of the carburetor and the interior of the intake manifold, the manifold being indicated at Min Figure 2. This block, 2 may be provided with suitable means for securing it in place, as, for example, the holes 21 to, receive a bolt passing through flanges on the carburetor and manifold. The aperture 20 preferably is circular, as is generallyrequired to, cause it to register with the. interiorof the intake manifold, but may be of any other suitable shape.

\Yithin, the aperture 20 a valve, as the circular butterfly valve 1, is mounted. I have shown this valve as secured upon a valve stem 10, this stem. being journaled in the block 2. This stem, by oscillating through an angle of approximately 90 degrees, will cause the valve 1 to move from full open to. full closed position, or the re ers Preferablythestem does not project entirely through the casing at any point.

' I prefer that'the stem be positioned, not coincidentally with a diameter of the aperture 20, but'rather parallel to such a diameter, offset a distance to one side of the diameter.' The reason for this is to cause, the circular valve 1 to he so positioned that its edges adjacent the stem, when in full open position, will contact with the sides of the aperture 20 to preventfurther rota-1 tion in the opening direction, and so that in swingingtowards. the closed position and when practically closed, one of its edges farthest removed from the stem will like wise contact with thesides of the aperture to prevent further rotation in this direction. Thus, by offsetting the axis of rota tion of the valve 1, its rotation is limited to approximately 90 degrees, without the use of stop. pins or other means projecting into the aperture with free flow therethrough.

In an extension 22 of the block 2, and in a bore 23 alined with the valve stem 10 I place a suitable lock, indicated in general by the numeral 3. Preferably this lock is of the type employing a cylinder 31 which is controlled by a suitable key K. This cylinder lock may be similar to many which are purchasable on the market, and which require a rotation of the cylinder through 360 degrees to permit extraction of the key. The cylinder may also have attached to it a plate 32, which plate rotates with the cylinder 31.

I provide a connecting means between the plate 32 and the valve stem 10 which will cause the valve stem 10 to be rotated through 90 degrees while the cylinder is being rotated through 360 degrees. This may be done conveniently by providing lost motion in this connection so that the first 270 degrees of rotation of the cylinder does not afiect the valve stem, but the valve stem is rotated with the cylinder through the last 90 degrees of its rotation. I prefer that this be done by providing a lug 11 on the end of the valve stem 10, which projects toward the plate 32, the sides 12 of this lug being spaced by an angle of approximately 90 degrees. This end of the stem may also conveniently be formed with a socket 13. The plate is formed with a portion 33 which is positioned to engage the faces 12 of the lug 11, and may have a pivot pin 34 formed on it, to be received in the socket 13.

Now as the cylinder 31 is rotated by the key K, the plate 32 and its member 33 which has been lying in the position shown in Figure 5, is rotated clockwise. During the first 270 degrees the stem 10 is not affected by rotation of this member 33, but at the end of 270 degrees it engages with a face 12, and continuing to rotate clockwise through the last 90 degrees, the stem 10 is turned through 90 degrees. The cylinder 31 is now in position to permit removal of the key K, and the valve 1 and its stem 10 have reached the position shown in Figure 4. The outer edge of the valve is in contact with the walls of the aperture 20 and will not permit further rotation of the valve in the clockwise direction. The cylinder, and consequently the plate 32, cannot be rotated in a counterclockwise direction except by the use of a key. In consequence a draft induced through the aperture 20, as by the suction of the motor, will not permit opening of the val e under this draft, inasmuch as the valve is positively held by its contact with the aperture against movement in one direction, and by the fixed position of the plate 32 and cylinder 31 against movement in the other direc-' tion.

hen it is desired to open the valve, the key is inserted in the cylinder 31 and rotated in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in Figure 4. Through the first 270 degrees of this rotation the member 33 has no effect on the lug 11, but again engages a face 12 to rotate the lug through the last 90 degrees of its rotation. This brings the valve into the position shown in Figure 3 where its edges adjacent the stem 10 will contact with the walls of the aperture 20 to prevent further rotation in this direction. The key may now be removed and as the member 33 is fixed by the lock in position the valve is prevented from moving from this position in either direction, and a draft through the aperture 20 caused by normal operation of the motor cannot operate to throw the valve into closed position. The key, however, can be removed and carried away, no matter which position the valve occupies. The device thus is easy to operate and positive in its action, and is a true lock inasmuch as there is never a temptation to leave the key in place.

I have assumed that the lock cylinder must always be rotated through 360 degrees, as this is a common type of lock. However, other locks may be employed which will require rotation of the cylinder through less than 360 degrees but more than 90 degrees. If such a lock is employed the angular spacing of the faces 12 of the lug 11 is increased by the angular amount the second type of cylinder turns less than 360 degrees. In other words, if the lock cylinder is required to turn only 180 degrees, the faces 12 of the lug will be spaced by 270 degrees.

Vhat I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination with an apertured block adapted to be inserted in a conduit, of a butterfly type valve in said aperture and having its pivot axis located to one side of the central axis of the aperture, whereby engagement of the valve edge with the wall of the aperture serves to limit its turning to substantially 90 of angle, and a key-controlled lock connected with the valve to turn it.

2. In combination with a block having a substantially circular aperture and adapted for insertion in the intake manifold of a gas engine, a substantially circular valve oscillable in said aperture upon a transverse axis at one side of a diameter of the aperture, the edges of the valve adjacent its axis engaging the walls of the aperture to limit its movement in one direction to a plane substantially parallel with the apertures axis, and to limit its movement in the opposite direction to a position substantially 90 degrees from the first limit position, and key-controlled means operatively connected tosaid valve and rotatable in said block between angular limits greater than 90 degrees, the connection between said means and the valve including a lost motion device engageable with said valve to oscillate it only through the final 90 degrees of the rotation of said keycontrolled means, in each direction.

3. In combination with a block having a substantially circular aperture and adapted block, key-controlled means rotatable in said block and alined with said stem, said means including a plate rotatable between limiting positions through an angular distance greater than 90 degrees, and a lug on the end of said stem having its sides engageable by said plate and spaced angularly to be engaged during the last 90 degrees of the plates movement in each direction from a limiting position of said means.

Signed at Seattle, King County, VVashington, this 22nd day of January, 19%.

GEORGE ALLIN. 

